This invention relates to a method of producing sterilized packed pasta, as well as sterilized packed pasta thus produced.
Cooked rice and boiled pasta are widely consumed. It would be convenient if sterilized packed pasta produced by sealing boiled pasta in a germ-free manner in individual trays of a plastic material were available, such as sterilized cooked rice. It now goes without saying that such sterilized packed pasta must retain the taste and flavor expected of the original boiled pasta packed in a container. The present invention relates to a method for producing such sterilized packed pasta.
Sterilized cooked rice in a packed form has been known. It is produced by filling a container with rice and water, boiling the rice inside the container in a retort and thereafter sealing the container inside a clean booth. Sterilized packed pasta, on the other hand, has not been known. If it were attempted to produce sterilized packed pasta in the same way as sterilized packed rice is produced as described above, the result would be something totally unattractive. Whether it is rice or pasta that is being cooked, an appropriate amount within a narrowly defined range of water must be used for boiling with respect to any given quantity of rice or pasta in order to obtain a product al dente. During the boiling process, rice remains totally immersed inside the boiling water and hence becomes uniformly boiled but pasta, due to its small specific weight, does not remain immersed in the water. The portions of the pasta floating above the water are not boiled properly and specks tend to appear on the boiled pasta. In other words, speckled pasta is obtained by the boiling, depending on the position of the pasta inside the container.